It cannot be too often or too highly stressed that Moses was and
is seen in the Jewish world as a larger than life figure. Theologically,
Judaism has placed Moses greater even than Messiah. We have shown
that it was the purpose of John's Gospel to correct this (1).
The idea that ordinary believers can in any sense be equal to or
even greater than Moses was (and is) absolute anathema to the Jewish
mind. And yet through allusion and almost explicit statement, the
Lord Jesus and the New Testament writers invite us to see ourselves
as equal to or greater than Moses, on account of the spiritual riches
made available to us in Christ. How radical this was to the first
century mind is extremely hard for us to enter into. The point is,
God intellectually stretches us to an extent which may be almost
unacceptable to us; as with our first century brethren, we too are
challenged to radically turn against many of the concepts and attitudes
which are fundamental to our upbringing. If we can really grasp
the reality of the fact that we are called to behold the glory
of God. Moses seems to have struggled to believe that he really
had been invited to such an experience (Ex. 33:16; 34:9,34).
- The very name 'Moses' meaning 'drawn out' suggests he is the
prototype for every saint- a called out one.
- We'll sing Moses' song; as if his victory was ours (Rev. 15:3)
- We'll all be like Moses was at the end, in essence; we'll share
his finest hours. Our names will not be blotted out of the book
of life (Rev. 3:5), as Moses' wasn't (Ex. 32:32).
- At the day of judgment, we will all go through the Moses experience;
hiding in the rock in the presence of God's glory (Is. 2:10 cp.
Ex. 33:22). And our vision of that glory in the face of the Lord
Jesus even now should have the same humbling effect.
- “Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by
God, saying, I am the God of Abraham…” (Mt. 22:31) quotes the
words God spoke to Moses as having been spoken personally
to us.
- In the same way as Moses spoke to the Angel without a veil
on his face, and thereby came to reflect the glory which shone
from the Angel's face (Ex. 34:33-35), so we are bidden look at
the glory of God in the face of Jesus, to consider his character,
and be changed into that same glory by reflecting his character
in our lives. By simply beholding the glory of Christ's righteousness,
truly appreciating it, we will be changed (2 Cor. 3:15-18 RV).
Paul seems to be arguing that whenever a Jew turns to the Lord
Jesus and fellowships with Him, then he is living out the pattern
of Moses. And further, 2 Cor. 4:3 speaks of our Gospel being 'veiled'
to those who are lost- as if we are as Moses, the Gospel
we preach being as the glory of God which shone from Moses' face.
Let's keep remembering how huge and radical was the challenge
of this to a first century Jewish readership for whom Moses was
an almost untouchable hero.
- We must not cast away our confidence, which has great recompense
of reward- and the writer uses these words about Moses, bidding
us follow his example (Heb. 10:35; 11:26).
- John's Gospel contains several references to the fact that
Christ 'shows' the Father to those who believe in him, and that
it is possible to " see the Father" and his glory through
seeing or accurately believing in him as the Son of the Father
(Jn. 11:40; 12:45; 14:9; 16:25). Moses earnestly wished to see
the Father fully, but was unable to do so. The height which Moses
reached as he cowered in that rock cleft and heard God's Name
declared is hard to plumb. But we have been enabled to see
the Father, through our appreciation of the Lord Jesus. But does
an appropriate sense of wonder fill us? Do we really
make time to know the Son of God? Or do we see words
like " glory" as just cold theology?
- The Lord Jesus in John’s Gospel describes Himself in terms
of the “I am…” formula. Each time, He was referring back to the
burning bush revelation of Yahweh as the “I am”; and by implication,
the Lord’s audience are thereby placed in the position of Moses,
intended to rise up in response as he did.
- Our eyes shall “behold the land that is very far off” (Is.
33:17) just as Moses had been given the vision of the promised
land far off.
- The man Moses was made very meek, until he was the
meekest man alive on earth (Num. 12:3 Heb.). “A stuttering shepherd,
shy of leadership and haunted by his crime of passion” in slaying
the Egyptian…these things developed this in him. Remember that
Moses himself wrote this. It's an autobiographical comment, reflecting
of course the Spirit of Him who knows every heart, and could make
such a statement. And yet he writes it in recording how God had
rebuked Aaron and Miriam for criticizing him, and how He had told
them that He spoke with Moses alone face to face. We can imagine
Moses blushing, with hung head. And then he makes the comment,
that he was made the most humble man… Appreciating the honour
of seeing so much of God, when he himself was a sinner, was part
of that humbling process. All Israel will ultimately go through
this when they face up to the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ: " Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust,
for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty
looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall
be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day"
(Is. 2:10,11). This certainly reads like an allusion to Moses'
cowering in the rock, humbling himself in the dust, before the
glory of Yahweh. Our glimpses of the wonder of the Father's character
should have the same effect upon us, just beholding the glory
of God, i.e. the manifestation of His perfect character is Christ,
should change us into the same image (2 Cor. 3:18- another invitation
to see ourselves as Moses). And yet I see little evidence of this
in my own life, or those of my brethren and sisters. We have perhaps
become all too familiar with the knowledge of the glory of God.
The awesomeness of His holiness as manifest in Christ seems far,
far from our appreciation. Despite God's evident pleasure with
Moses, manifest in the revelation He gave him, Moses still fumbled
around in his recognition of his own humanity: " If now I
have found grace in thy sight...pardon our iniquity and
our sin" (Ex. 34:9). This is surely homework for
us; to grow in our appreciation and marvel at God's holiness,
at the moral beauty of His character. For this is how we too will
be changed into the same image, and how we will come to truly
love God. For we cannot love what we do not appreciate or understand.
But note that God’s comment on Moses was also: “the man Moses
was very great” (Ex. 11:3). Yet it is also written that “the man
Moses was very meek” (Num. 12:3). Putting the two passages together
we have the clear lesson that he who humbles himself is made great;
and in this, Moses was not only a type of Christ but also a pattern
for all who would go through the pattern which the Lord Jesus
set before us: of humbling ourselves now that we might be made
great in due time. Moses our example is really a challenge in
this.
- Moses desired that God’s glory would “appear…upon / unto” the
children of God’s servants (Ps. 90:16). He wanted all God’s children
to have the same experience of glory appearing to them as he had
had. And according to 2 Cor. 3:18, this desire is fulfilled every
time a man turns to the Lord Jesus, and like Moses, with unveiled
face, beholds that same glory.
- God spoke to Moses " mouth to mouth, even apparently,
and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of Yahweh shall he
behold" (Num. 12:8) is the basis of 1 Cor. 13:12: "
Now (in the period of the Spirit gifts) we see through a glass
darkly; but then (in the dispensation of the completed word) face
to face: now I know in part (from the ministry of the gifts);
but then shall I know, even as also I am known" . The point
of this connection is simply this: The close relationship between
God and Moses is now available to us through the word. But do
we feel God speaking to us face to face, as a man speaks to his
friend (Ex. 33:11)? For this is how close God and Moses came through
the word. Yet it is possible. An urgent devotion to the
word is needed by us as a community. This is what we really need
exhortation about.
- In the same way as Moses was called up into the mount to receive
his Divine commission, so the Lord Jesus called up to the mount
His disciples- implying that they, who represent all of us, were
now a new Moses (Mk. 3:13). Moses was thus an example that challenged
those from a Jewish background especially.
- Wherever an ordinary Israelite offered sacrifice, “I will come
unto thee [‘you’ singular] and bless thee” (Ex. 20:23). This is
the very language of God coming unto Moses on the top of Sinai
(Ex. 19:20 RV)- as if to imply that the very pinnacle of Moses’
relationship with God, meeting Him on the top of the mount, is
just as attainable for each of God’s people who truly sacrifices
to Him.
- When Eliphaz says that the righteous “Will die at the height
of your powers, and be gathered like ripened grain” (Job
5:26, Stephen Mitchell’s translation), there is an evident connection
with the account of Moses being gathered at his death,
and dying with his natural faculties undiminished. Moses is presented
as the epitome of the righteous believer.
- The way Moses pleaded with God to change His mind and not destroy
Israel for the sake of what the surrounding nations would say
is indeed inspirational to us all. It surely inspired David to
pray likewise- for “wherefore should the heathen say, Where is
now there God?” (Ps. 115:2).
- " I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt
say" (Ex. 4:12) is almost quoted in Mt. 10:19,20 and Mk.
13:11concerning how we too will be taught what to say when we
come before the rulers of our world. In such moments of crisis,
Moses, even in weakness as he was at this time, really is our
living example.
- Joshua was encouraged that " As I was with Moses, so I
will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee"
(Josh. 1:5). But these very words are quoted in Heb. 13:5 as the
grounds of our matchless confidence that the Lord God will be
with us too! As He was with Moses- not just in power, but in wondrous
patience and gentleness- so He will be with us too. Not only did
God encourage Joshua to see himself as in Moses' shoes; He inspired
Jeremiah likewise (Jer. 21:8 = Dt. 30:15,19), and Ezekiel (Ez.
2:3 = Dt. 31:27; Neh. 9:17; Num. 17:10); and He wishes us to also
see Moses' God as our God. But if Moses' God is to be ours in
truth in the daily round of life, we must rise up to the dedication
of Moses; as he was a faithful steward, thoroughly dedicated to
God's ecclesia (Heb. 3:5), so we are invited follow his example
(1 Cor. 4:2; Mt. 24:45). Note that the promise of Moses that God
would not fail nor forsake Joshua, but would be with him (Dt.
31:8) was similar to the very promise given to Moses which he
had earlier doubted (Ex. 3:12; 4:12,15). Such exhortation is so
much the stronger from someone who has themselves doubted and
then come to believe.
In addition to all this, Moses is set up as example and representative
of his people Israel. Israel is likened in Ez. 16:5 to a child rejected
at birth, but miraculously found and cared for, and brought up with
every pampered blessing. Just as Moses was. Stephen described the
‘putting out’ of Moses with the same word used in the LXX for what
happened to Israel in Ezekiel 16 (Acts 7:21; Ex. 2:3 LXX).
Gideon was bidden rise up to the example of Moses- for there were
many similarities between his call by the Angel, and the Angelic
calling which Moses received at the burning bush. Thus Gideon was
called to follow the Angel in faith, "because Ehyeh is with
you" (Jud. 6:16)- a direct quotation from the Angelic manifestation
to Moses in Ex. 3:12. And yet he responds: "Alas! For I have
seen Yahweh's envoy face to face!" (Jud. 6:22). Gideon knew
full well that Moses had seen the Angel "face to face"
(Dt. 34:10). Gideon's fear is therefore rooted in a sense that "No!
I'm simply not Moses!". And it's the same with us.
We can read of all these reasons to believe that Moses is really
our pattern, and respond that "No! This ain't me...".
But there, in the record of Gideon and his success, lies our challenge
to rise up to the spirit of Moses.
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